So said another way your 3 commonsense strategies will help you avoid bloating up like a dead, water logged animal carcass, adding unwanted inches and pounds that you’ve been busting your butt to get rid of, and help you avoid the plunge into the holiday season weight gain abyss.

So I’m going to keep it simple. And before I discuss your 3 simple strategies to avoid self sabotage, I want you to ponder the following:

It’s important to remember what this holiday is all about. It’s about giving thanks for the things we have. Not gorging like a roman solder after winning a battle. I do think it is important to slow down and appreciate all the things we are fortunate enough to enjoy. It’s easier said than done living in the big city. There’s a reason monks go to mountain tops to find serenity and peace. But try this little exercise. Look around and absorb everything. Look at the architecture of the city. The lights on Michigan Ave, take just 2 minutes each day to think about how lucky you are. Be thankful for great friends and loving family. And here’s a thought, you could be away from all this in a place like Iraq, fighting a war, like one of our former clients was just 18 months ago, an investment banker turned soldier, away from his wife and 14 month old baby girl for 12 months. Fortunately he made it back in one piece, but only after dodging bullets for year. So do yourself this favor; stop and smell the roses.

Okay back to the keeping you from pretending you’re a victorious roman soldier.

Tip #1- The right way to eat appetizers. Avoid snacking on chips and dips, and salty calorie dense appetizers, and drinking alcohol all day hanging with family. This doesn’t mean don’t eat a little of the aforementioned, but what I am saying is…be sensible. Most parties and gathering include veggies with dips, Try to stick to the veggies, opt for humus instead of creamy dressings. Limit or avoid the crackers, and chips, and stick to veggies and lean proteins. The shrimp cocktail, chicken sticks, and a few sushi rolls. And remember cheese is a source of fat, and while it does have protein, it is important to remember it is a fat. So keep the cheese to a minimum and when you do, stick to the white cheeses (they tend to be lower in calories). This will also help you fill up on nutrient and curb your appetite so when dinner comes you’re hungry and you won’t overeat.  

Tip #2- Enjoy a drink or two- Hey it’s the holiday and if you want to enjoy a cocktail or a nice glass of wine; knock your socks off. While enjoying a few drinks is acceptable, 6-12 is like taking a nose dive off a cliff for 24 hours. So set a limit on how much you will drink ahead of time. If you have guests, buy less alcohol, if they want more, make them head out into the cold to go get it. And interchange drinks with water. Go with a 2:1 ratio... Two glasses of water for every alcoholic drink you consume. But do yourself a favor and pace yourself and try to keep it to just a couple. Enjoy don’t destroy.

Tip #3-Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner- That means enjoy the meal (singular) unfortunately I know of too many families that turn this into a day long act of gluttony. We’ve already discussed the right way to eat appetizers, and consume alcohol, so now its time to readjust how you eat your meal.

It’s this simple; stick to the turkey breast meat, it’s the leanest.  Enjoy a small serving of the mashed potatoes and stuffing and think of your portion control suggestions. ¼ plate of starchy carbs (mashed potatoes and stuffing) , ½ plate of veggies (green beans, etc), and ¼ (up to 1/3 plate) of turkey or protein source being served. Keep your gravy moderate and be sure to begin the meal by slugging down about 8-10 oz of water before you eat. This will help you feel full sooner and help you avoid overeating. When it’s all said and done, enjoy a small slice of pumpkin pie.

Congratulations, this is how you survive Thanksgiving Day this year and all the years to come. It’s not complicated, but a little mental planning will do the trick. (Oh, there’s that word again, PLANNING.)

This is also your test day for the rest of the holiday season. If you think you can gorge and then add an hour on the treadmill to get rid of the calories, you’re sadly mistaken. To put in perspective, (we’ve already discussed how inefficient long boring cardio is) but to get rid of 7000 extra calories from the Thanksgiving day gorge using the long boring treadmill workouts will take about 21 hours… 2 1   H O U R S… just to get back to where you were the Wednesday before the holiday! Don’t set yourself up for failure because you want to go nuts for a few hours. Again, ENJOY don’t DESTORY!!!

Thanksgiving is going to be your official holiday season launch. Use tomorrow as practice for the bevy of upcoming holiday parties. Stay dedicated to the process by learning how to have it all and live healthy. Virtually all of you are busy urban professionals, not crusades warriors that need to celebrate their battle victories.

I know you’ll all do well.

And all of us here at Fitness Mojo hope you have a great holiday and we thank you guys for choosing us and for dedicating yourself to getting lean and healthy.

Happy Thanksgiving.

#1 you’re applying ACTION- something as simple as reading an article about what we have found to be the single biggest obstacles for our clients, is must read information and an indication that you are involved in the process….Even if you’ve read it before.

#2 you understand that information is necessary for long-term success and you realize it’s the small things that result in big changes.

In my forth coming book, (Yes its official, my first book will be done soon). the first 22 pages are dedicated to discussing, what is necessary for long term change and includes some of the information in the attachment that I included in the last newsletter.

One of the key things I discuss in the book is, if you want ripped abs, or just a nice toned healthy body, you’ll have to commit to the process of changing your lifestyle and that doesn’t mean turning it upside down. Quite the opposite. Simple things like reading and applying the simple commonsense strategies we send you each week will make a huge difference. That’s part of the process.

Kathy, Josha, Brian, and I all sincerely care about everyone’s success, and that means results… Lasting results. But until you get a grip on the fundamentals, you’re destined to struggle.

So today’s newsletter is two fold.

1)      To remind you that this is a process and as long as you understand that, you will achieve what you came to us for. Everything worth having takes a little bit of time. A college degree, a black belt in Karate, learning a new language. If you don’t know how to read, you won’t even get into college. If don’t learn to kick; karate is going to be hard to master, and if you don’t know how to conjugate verbs in Spanish… good luck trying to communicate with people in Spain. So remember, your fat loss and health efforts are no different; if you don’t know the basics about eating balanced meals that are enjoyable, you’ll always struggle with your weight and poor health.

So that brings me to the second point of this week’s newsletter; learning what foods to eat and how to eat balanced meals EVERY TIME YOU EAT.

This is a basic fundamental that you MUST master over time.

In our training camps the participants learn the difference between eating healthy and eating for fat loss. Most are surprised by how simple it is to do once they learn a few keys and nothing validates this more than their rapid results. One of our last campers said essentially this;. “you’ve been telling everyone these things all along, and what this camp has done is put me in a position to apply it all at the same time.”

BINGO! You see, getting results is a process of action. So if you haven’t done a camp. I recommend you do, because it is an intense action packed experience that makes you apply the Massive Action that produces results that you want in just 28 days.
 

So here are this week’s commonsense strategies:

To achieve Rapid Fat loss, eat 5 small meals a day ( just plan for 10 minutes) and make sure you eat a lean protein, a veggie, (or small low glycemic fruit) and a small amount of healthy fat (like 5-6 almonds) every time you eat. THAT’s IT. Don’t complicate it. I’ll teach you more later but for now just follow this simple suggestion.

Here’s a quick excerpt from my forth coming book about planning.

Don’t sabotage yourself! If you’re really committed to change, then commit to ten minutes a day.

Now that’s scary, because that’s doable. When I tell you to change your lifestyle, you take it in stride because you know I can’t really expect you to flip your entire life around overnight. But when I tell you to spend ten minutes a day making small changes, that’s something you can actually do. And that means you have to make a choice. Are you going to make a few changes, start planning, set reasonable goals? Or are you going to walk away now? Because if you’re not committed, there’s no point setting goals you know you won’t meet.

When you mentally commit, the planning is easy. So start by looking over the “Fat Burning Foods Handout” attached and begin focusing on the foods that help you burn fat. Stick to the food in white and for the next few weeks avoid the one’s in red and eat the foods highlighted in yellow occasionally.

The only one’s that you CAN eat in unlimited quantities are veggies with a GI (glycemic index) of less than 20. I say this because I know some people will say “look, pasta has a low to moderate GI, he said I could eat a lot of moderate GI foods”. That is exactly what you shouldn’t do.

Pay attention to the portion size of the meal. That means “watch out” for starches like bread and pasta, they should be limited to a quarter plate or a half tennis ball size serving. Anything more is calorie excess and will likely result in an unwanted spike in blood sugar which leads to more food cravings and fat storage. That’s the combo you’re trying to get away from. So Load up on the veggies so you fill up.

If this sounds difficult or is too hard for you, you are reinforcing what I said earlier… You Need To Learn The Fundamentals. You need to change some habits, so start simple.

• If you eat out; get grilled rosemary chicken with asparagus, and a small salad with oil & vinegar dressing on the side.

• Eat scrambled/poached/ or fried eggs for breakfast, with an apple and a teaspoon of peanut butter.

• For dinner, try a piece of grill salmon with fresh lemon a small serving of wild rice, and sautéed zucchini and yellow squash. Be sure to add some herbs and spices.

And bingo again; it’s this easy! It’s a process that you MUST commit to. So get to it.

Next week, I will give you at least 3 tips that will help you avoid overeating on Thanksgiving and survive the holiday season. You can eat plenty and enjoy the holiday without setting yourself two weeks back. As with every newsletter this will be a "Must Read" as the holiday season officially kicks into high gear next week.

• Healthy Eating Sucks!
• Time, Time, Time, I have no Time.
• I don’t want to change my lifestyle
• I’d rather be miserable than have to eat tofu.
• Healthy food doesn’t taste good.
• Eating a balanced meal is difficult?
• Organic food? I’m not a hippie.
• I don’t have time to eat Breakfast?
• I don’t eat breakfast because I’m not hungry in the morning.
• I’ll have to start eating better, No more ______ for me.
• I have to start eating healthy, I have to give up everything I love to eat.
• I can’t take lunch.
• I don’t have time to cook.
• Everything I like to eat isn’t good for me.
• I don’t like vegetables.
• All my fresh food spoils before I eat it.
• I have business dinners often, and I have to drink alcohol.
• I have business dinners often; it’s hard to eat healthy.
• I Love sweets, I don’t want to give that up. I want to enjoy myself.
• And on and on...

Now, imagine the day when you get dressed and button up your pants… they’re actually loose. AND, when you look in the mirror there’s NO flab hanging over the front, there are no love handles and your abs are flat; finally you did it! Loose pants, flat abs, a nice toned body, and lots of energy too.

And how is this going to be possible? By applying a consistent focus on better nutrition. Here’s one easy strategy that's an essential part of every Fitness Mojo 4 week Training Camp for mega fast results (and one that will be essential in our 10 week challenge).

If you’ve done a camp, you’ve seen this before, but it won’t hurt to read it again, and for those of you who haven’t gotten this info from me. Enjoy and apply.

What’s The Fat Blasting Weapon Used by Every Celebrity and Professional Athlete?

It’s the Protein shake of Course. The Protein shake is a staple in performance nutrition and part of any fat loss program. It makes getting your protein needs easy and fills you up to control hunger while providing lots of nutrients with minimal calories.  

Play with different ingredients, blending times, water amounts, and fruits added, even a small serving of almonds adds essential fats and added flavor. It’s so much easier than you think. Just have a little fun and experiment to make up your favorite recipes. Try these for starters.

Performance Nutrition Mojo Shake Starters:

Shake Ideas: Blend into nice thick consistency

Banana-Raspberry Blend

Ladies 20grms BioChem Vanilla                       Guys 30 grams BioChem Vanilla

½ banana                                                         1 banana

¼ cup raspberries                                             ½ cup raspberries

8 oz Ice cold water and Crushed ice.                8 oz Ice cold water and Crushed ice.

*Add Supplements if you are making this a Post Training Shake.

Peanut butter Banana

Ladies 20grms BioChem Vanilla                       Guys 30 grams BioChem Vanilla

½ banana                                                         1 banana

1 teaspoon peanut butter                                   1 tablespoon peanut butter

8 oz Ice cold water and Crushed ice.                8 oz Ice cold water and Crushed ice.

*Add Supplements if you are making this a Post Training Shake.

Berry Delight

Ladies 20grms BioChem Vanilla                       Guys 30 grams BioChem Vanilla

¼ cup Raspberries banana                                ¼ cup Raspberries banana

¼ cup strawberries                                           ¼ cup strawberries

¼ cup blueberries                                             ¼ cup blueberries

8 oz Ice cold water and Crushed ice.                8 oz Ice cold water and Crushed ice.

*Add Supplements if you are making this a Post Training Shake.

The options are limitless. Use your imagination. Combine things that would logically taste good without tons of calories. When you shop again, you can buy all sorts of frozen UNSWEETEND berries and fruits. Add a hand full of nuts. And notice Crushed Ice is a key ingredient. Ice creates a better shake consistency.

To add some extra flavor make your shake with Skim or rice milk. But if you’re body fat is over 25%, I’d suggest you stick to ice cold water. And if you’re trying to gain weight (muscle of course) use 8 oz of  rice milk for the added calories

The Perfect Meal when you’re on the Fly, in a jam or just feeling lazy- just mix some protein powder in ice cold water ( 20 gms women/ 30gms men) and eat a piece of fruit like an apple or pear, and eat 5-8 raw almonds for fat. The bottom line, you need protein, some good carbs, and fat. This recipe provides all of it.

Want to learn a simple, ten minute technique that will help you begin to overcome your biggest challenge?

First, which of the following do you “think” is YOUR biggest challenge?

Nutrition: What to eat, when to eat, and how much to eat..

Exercise: How to exercise, how to breathe, learning how to hold your body right, what muscles are weak and tight, all will be challenging, but not your biggest challenge

Staying motivated, consistent, and focused.

Changing your perception about what healthy IS. This and all the above will present you with various challenges, but still none of these will be your BIGGEST Challenge.

“Okay Erik, get to it already!!?”

Changing your lifestyle is a lot like correcting an improper movement pattern. (Now this will be a little scientific and technical, so bear with me) First you have to identify the issue, then you need to fix it. To retrain the movement pattern requires 1500 to 2000 “correct” repetitions to reprogram the neuromuscular movement pattern.

If you fail to address the issues, you will spend a lot of time and effort to create a different “incorrect” movement pattern and fall short of the results you are likely trying to obtain. This is frustrating.

So, just like training your muscles, you need to train yourself to identify and fix what is holding you back by sticking with what works. That means eating smarter, and learning how to make lifestyle changes that become reflexive. When you don’t have to think about being healthy anymore, you’ll be able to keep your waistline trim and your weight under control, effortlessly.

I tell you this because changing your lifestyle is a process. It is a process of trial and error, and the process is often challenging, especially when you replace something that works, with something that doesn't. So by determining what to focus on, you will get better results, faster, you’ll stay motivated, and you’ll enjoy the process which makes being healthy more enjoyable, and that adds up to a lot less frustration.

So What’s The 10 Minute Technique That Will Help You Change Your Lifestyle And Accelerate Your Results?

Here is a simple strategy that will help you begin to change the 20% of lifestyle habits that are affecting you negatively.

A simple lifestyle habit that sets you up for failure is; failing to plan. For some of you this could be the entire 20%. And the busier you are the more havoc lack of planning will create.  

So your commonsense strategy starting today is to allocate 10 minutes at the end of every day, in the evening before you get ready to retire, to plan the next day’s meals. I do this myself, all the time! (Especially when I have to get up at 3:15 AM to conduct Training CAMP.) Why? Because I know that Nutrition is the key to faster results and for staying lean.

If I don’t plan, It is too easy to become the victim of my work day, and if I get too busy to eat, or fail to bring at least two meals, I’ll eat things that I normally wouldn’t or I’ll go too long between meals, and I’ll be STARVED at the end of the day and I’ll likely eat too much or worse, too much of the wrong thing.. Sound Familiar?

Use the 10 minutes to "prep" what you are going to eat for breakfast. You could even cook it the night before. Then pack two to three small meals that contain a lean source of protein, low sugar fruits and or veggies, and some fat; like 4-5 raw nuts or a tablespoon of peanut butter.  

It’s just 10 little minutes. It’s so simple that often people are skeptical. But, this is a totally different lifestyle habit…. wouldn’t you agree?. After about 21 days this will be a new habit.

Possible Deterrents:

No food to make, no groceries.

Nothing to pack lunch in, no lunch box, brown bag or cooler..

Then use the 10 min to “game plan” the next day that will include going to the grocery store or a trip to Target to shop for your lunch tools so you can get started the next day.

This is what your nutrition plan should look like tomorrow. If the menu below seems overwhelming, just come as close as you can. But notice each meal contains Protein, carbs, and Fat, that is the key.

Breakfast- One of the meals described in last week’s newsletter.

Mid Morning* meal- Chicken breast strips with an apple and 4-6 whole almonds.

Lunch- Tuna Salad, on bed of greens, with Oil & vinegar dressing, 1 whole pear.

Mid Afternoon* meal- 3oz salmon, broccoli and ¼ cup wild rice. ( if your cooking dinner, this should be a serving of last nights dinner)

Dinner- Chicken Taco’s- Grilled Chicken, side salad, 2 corn tortillas, Chopped Yellow squash and zucchini.

PM snack- (If hungry). 1 medium banana or 2/3 large banana, w/ scoop of protein, 2 oz rice or skim milk, ¼ cup raw oats. Mix it all together and enjoy.

*Mid Morning or Mid Afternoon meals can be substituted for a protein shake and piece of fruit w/ a 4-6 almonds.

Don’t complicate things. It takes 21 days to form a new habit, so just do what you can for 10 minutes. If it takes longer. Just stop at 10 minutes. It will be a big improvement on what you’ve been doing.

That’s it. Remember this Is a process. Don’t be a perfectionist. Little changes will add up to BIG results and changing your lifestyle is about fixing the 20% that causes 80% of your problems. This makes it easy to do the right things and create bigger and better results…faster. After all, ONE SIZE does not fit all.

Get to plannin’.! 

Dedicated to your health and fitness success,

In last week's newsletter I shared with you the success of Juliet Yackel and how, by applying Fitness Mojo’s 3 components in unison, she transformed her body and life.

In my last entry, I was telling you about Juliet and that, what was more significant than her results, was that she was LEARNING HOW she got the results and how to maintain them.

Juliet lost the majority of her weight after 12 months and by 18 months, she had the best body of her adult life and was living an entirely different lifestyle.

I was 39.9% body Fat when I started. I am now 18.9% This has been a life altering Program. 3 days a week for 30 minutes. A total of 6 hours a month. The reason this is such an incredible program is that it’s all about small shifts and a realistic approach that accommodates any busy lifestyle. I’m a single mom that travels all over the country on business and I’ve entirely reshaped my body.

The Fitness Mojo program goes beyond the physical. All the coaches here know and understand you and deal with what’s holding you back…. People, life, schedule, and other challenges.

Fitness Mojo really helps you deal with stress that challenges you as an individual. Stress that leads to lack of performance. I worked with a Bally’s trainer for a year before I came here. Nothing changed. The next year with Fitness Mojo everything changed. I literally cut my body fat in half. The changes I’ve made are awesome and life changing.”  Juliet Yackel..

In all fairness, she did add workouts here and there. She had some aches and pains along the way.

She got off track here and there, but really, over the course of a year, she always did her 12 sessions a month. Not 9, 10, not 11… TWELVE! She always made-up misses. She concentrated on eating 5 times a day.

She took her vitamins. She understood what she had to do. She applied what we told her. She was always working on it.

When she was trying to break through a plateau; she did. She didn’t get hung up on the scale (a problem we often encounter, especially with women clients.)

I specifically remember reviewing her measurement results after her first 5 weeks. Her results were typical. Her body fat percentage changed but the scale had decreased only 1 lb.

I showed her that she had lost about 4 lbs of fat and gained 3 lbs of lean muscle. I explained that this was good and that things would begin to change more significantly after about 10 weeks and that the 3 pounds of muscle meant her metabolism was faster which meant she would be burning more calories all the time, even when she was sleeping.

She implemented all 10 of my recommendations:

1. Eat 5 small meals evenly spaced throughout the day. It just requires planning.
2. Always pre-cook meals by cooking at least 4 servings when you cook dinner so you have food you can grab easily.
3. Optimize calories- Make sure every meal includes veggies and/or a piece of good hard crispy fruit (they fill you up and control food cravings).
4. Avoid foods with refined sugar-it affects energy levels negatively and they will actually stimulate your appetite.
5. Make sure to eat adequate protein. Roughly 1 gram for every pound of lean mass to speed up recover, and it too satisfies hunger and fills you up.
6. Always eat a balanced meal. This means a lean protein, veggie, and a little healthy fat at every meal. This keeps your hormone levels even throughout the day, thus accelerating fat loss efforts.
7. Pack a lunch instead of eating out. You’ll save money and you control calories and quality.
8. Add post training speed work when you can. Even if its just ten minutes. It will make a difference.
9. Always complete 12 sessions or more each month.(6 hours)Find a way.
10. Limit Alcohol- Every drink is like eating a candy bar. (I don’t know of too many weight loss programs that condone 6-10 candy bars every week.)

In my next entry we'll talk about how easy it is for anybody to apply these 10 steps and how juliet did it to get into the best shape of her life.  

Dedicated to your Fitness Success,

Erik E. Johnson

Executive Director/Founder

Fitness Mojo Personal Training Center.

1. Exercise Regularly & Often
   

2. Eat Nutritious Foods Often
   

3. Commit to a Healthier Lifestyle.
   

In my next entry I'll share the 10 things that were key to her success.